But before I get started, let me share with you a few tips. OK, one tip: Get a work stand. Because putting your bike upside down isn’t good for it—yes, I said it. When I first started fixing my own bikes, I couldn’t afford a fancy $300, folding, magnetic, fixes-the-bike-for-you stand. I tried piecing together a “DIY $30 Stand.” I followed all the directions that the Internet demanded, and once I’d bought all the clamps and pipes, this thing cost really more in the neighborhood of $60—but it only stayed upright with a rope tied to something sturdy in the garage. It was one word: junk. So I bit the veritable chainring and charged a decent stand on my credit card (I hate debt, folks).

Riding the bus with three infants in a stroller is no easy task, especially when you realize you have a flat tire as soon as you step foot on the pavement of 2nd and University. Luckily, I found The Bicycle Repair Shop. Andy happily filled my tire with air, and when it was flat again an hour later, found a replacement tube in minutes. He changed the tire with the babies still in the stroller! This was such an amazing experience that totally made a fun day possible for us! Thank you, Andy!

Our favorite hand pump for commuters is the Lezyne Sport Drive HP, and you can read more specifics about why in our full-length guide, written by Dave Yasuda, a writer and tester with over 30 years in the saddle. To sum it up, Lezyne makes pumps with an extendable rubber tube that connects to your tire valve, and that’s the difference between awkward and demoralizing. It’s not the only company that does so, but it is one of the few, and it does it the best. The Sport Drive HP can adapt to any tire valve, has no small fussy parts to lose, and inflates more easily to higher psi levels than anything we tested without floor leverage.

Bike Radar gives the Pedro’s levers 4.55 out of five stars and claims they’re the “best out there.” (Can we pause to admire the extra five hundredths of a star the site chose to award it? Very specific.) Aaron Gulley, writing for Outside, states, “I can’t count the number of times I’ve snapped cheap plastic sticks, shredded my hand in the process, stomped around cursing in pain for 10 minutes, and then, insult to injury, been tool-less and unable to get my tire off anyway. That will never happen with Pedro’s.”
I just got a tune up on my bike and it rides so much better now! It takes half as much effort to petal, it is like a new bike. The guys who work there are so nice and always make you feel like your time is important. They don't overcharge or sell you things you don't need. I thought for sure I needed a new chain, but as it turns out, it's fine! He gave me some extra foam for my bike helmet, free of charge! I'll definitely come back here for all my bike needs!
Let me go ahead and get the bad stuff out of the way. First of all, this stand is NOT the same level of quality as something you would find in a bicycle shop being used for the shop's repairs. it's quite a bit more flimsy, and the grip likes to rotate if you don't get the bike's center of gravity just right. The tool tray is also made out of a rather cheap plastic that can break easily at the rim. That being said, this stand is perfect for home users and makes mundane tasks like fixing a flat or cleaning the chain much easier. It easily holds my Raleigh Merit 3, and I don't worry about the thing falling even if the grip tilts a bit. The stand significantly shortened the time I needed to change an inner tube on my bicycle, and made me less worried about damaging something on the bike by jury-rigging a stand out of whatever I had lying around.
I brought my bike into Kyle's shop to fix the noise in my rear wheel. The mechanic suggested that I need to overhauled the rear hub for $30. The next day the noise came back even worst. I brought it back to the shop and they said it was the freewheel driver not the hub that needed to be work on and it would cost me extra $30 to overhauled it again plus the part to fix it. At this point I walked out of the shop and took my bike to David's world. The mechanic at David's world took a quick look at the rear hub and indicated that the axle was put back too tight when Kyle's mechanics were working on it and further identify the issue. I ended up paying David's world the $30 plus part to fix my bike, but the major different is that David's World has 30 Days services warranty claim. If you have any issue with your bike within the 30 days the service was performed you can bring it back and they will fix it no question ask.

Want to be your own grease monkey? This plain-English guidegives you expert tips for keeping your bicycle in great conditionand handling most repairs by yourself. You'll also see how toextend the life of your bike, increase your riding comfort, andimprove safety through routine maintenance. No matter the make orsize of bicycle, this hands-on resource has all the tips youneed!

A pair of disposable latex gloves: Not absolutely necessary, but good for keeping grease and grime off your hands during a repair. Also, nice to have in an emergency when it starts raining and the temperature drops 20 degrees and you don’t have a pair of regular gloves. Just keeping your hands dry and the wind from directly blowing on them makes a huge difference in comfort.
I bicycle to and from work to save gas. I don't have a fancy bike, it's just a Schwinn mountain bike that's comfortable and can carry me plus gear but I want to be able to do my own work on it. I needed a book that was simple enough for someone new to bicycle repair and maintenance but could take me through all the upkeep my workhorse needs, and this book does just that. It's well-written and easy to follow.

If you have just a short time in Seattle there is only one way to see the city. Walk at 2.5 miles an hour? I don't think so. Take buses and trams that you have to wait for and that might not even get you where you need to go? No way Jose. Drive your car? Hahahaha get outta here, don't even talk to me. But what about a BICYCLE??? Now that's the ticket. The Bicycle Repair Shop does rentals by the hour or by the day. They have reasonable rates. They have solid, lightweight hybrid bikes so you can tackle train tracks and brick streets and hills. They also have road bikes for the more experienced. You can reserve online in advance. You get a helmet and a lock with your rental. The staff in the shop are friendly and will suggest routes and point out hills if you're new to the area. And believe me these hills are no joke! I had a great time in Seattle and it's all thanks to this business. Next time I visit I am definitely doing this again.

On a very sunny Saturday I had a rear spoke break - you can imagine that no shop was willing to promise a quick repair! I was so fortunate to find this shop and will come back - Andy not only told me to come down and he'd get it fixed, he had his assistant work with another couple while he measured, cut to the right size, installed and trued the wheel while I waited! It was awesome, and the whole place had a great feel and good people. Best of all he charged a very fair $20 for all that work - I would have paid a premium for the quick service! After experiencing lots of attitude at other shops and poor service, this was a real find. I hope you will check them out, they have a great selection of bikes and accessories too! Good people and good craftsmanship should be rewarded.

Otherwise, this tool should serve the average commuter well. Specifically, we think you’ll find the size 4, 5, and 6 hex keys, extremely common sizes in bicycles, very helpful. They’ll adjust seat-post heights or let you remove the saddle entirely, or tighten a loose stem that’s always rattling apart. The Phillips head will tighten loose bolts on shoe cleats or the rear derailleur. The most common use for the torx would be adjusting disc brakes if you have ’em.

Many bikes, including older models and track bikes, have bolts attaching the wheels to the frame instead of quick-release levers. If your wheels are bolted on, in most cases you’ll need a 15 mm wrench to remove it. We didn’t test wrenches, because there aren’t that many tiny 15 mm wrenches, but the GearWrench 15mm 12-Point Stubby Combination Wrench is perfect for stuffing into a flat kit and Amazon reviewers seem to think the same. Our experts also recommended the Surly Jethro Tule, but it’s expensive and harder to find.

If you own a bike, you need a flat-fixing kit. It’s really that simple. Sure, maybe you’ll get lucky and get a flat close to a shop, or the buses will be running on time for once, but even with all that going for you, getting stranded across town will cost you time, money, and precious sanity. You can put together a great kit in less time than it takes to read this guide.

First, I researched. I looked at Amazon’s top-rated products and their user reviews. Then I consulted Bicycling magazine, Gear Junkie, Bike Radar, Outside, and the occasional bit by Lennard Zinn via Velonews. I also found some worthwhile discussions at Bike Forums. Then I spoke with four experts, Ramona Marks, Scott Karoly, Cari Z, and Alison Tetrick, riders from all across the spectrum, who tour, repair, and race.

Where to begin?! Long story made somewhat short. I bookmarked this place because I saw their dog Kaya and was sold. Lol. But they had 5 stars too so that helped. Amazing people. Very down-to-earth. Took the bikes down the path to Discovery Park. If you're in-shape and do mild cardio, then it should be an ok ride. I don't do cardio and I found myself trying to sell my soul like 15 times just to get to the top of some hills. Lol. Made it to the Ballard locks and actually got to see a boat pass through! This is the off-season so not much boat traffic. Steve, an engineer we met there, said peak time will start in May. Ate lunch at Ann's in Ballard. Delish shrimp sate! I busted my tire in a pothole and had to make a trip to REI. Which wasn't awful because we wanted to go there anyway. The city was tough to ride in at 5:00pm and we rode the sidewalk most of the way back due to the congestion. Some pedestrians are obvious to you and I almost ran over a few people.. By choice. Lol. Made it back right before they closed at 6:00pm. Easy peasy! Notes: Take some water. Take some pictures. The ride is beautiful so don't rush through. Get there before noon to give yourself some time to cruise.
But before I get started, let me share with you a few tips. OK, one tip: Get a work stand. Because putting your bike upside down isn’t good for it—yes, I said it. When I first started fixing my own bikes, I couldn’t afford a fancy $300, folding, magnetic, fixes-the-bike-for-you stand. I tried piecing together a “DIY $30 Stand.” I followed all the directions that the Internet demanded, and once I’d bought all the clamps and pipes, this thing cost really more in the neighborhood of $60—but it only stayed upright with a rope tied to something sturdy in the garage. It was one word: junk. So I bit the veritable chainring and charged a decent stand on my credit card (I hate debt, folks).
That’s a reality of all hand pumps—it’s really hard to get a tire up to pressure with these things. So another reason Lezyne pumps are so good is because you can actually keep pumping longer than any other brand we tested. With excruciating effort, we could get the Sport Drive HP to pump tires to 90 or 100 psi. It still wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible the way it was with some other models.
Nice, helpful, friendly. Central location. Good bikes (I had two over two days.) Bikes had a water bottle cage (some places don't do that!) Provided helmets if needed (I didn't) and a one-sided pannier containing a decently strong but not super-heavy cable lock and a patch kit. Only quibbles: 1) The owner helping me with getting my bikes seemed to 'drop me' for too long when someone else walked in. He should have said to them, after asking what they were in for, that 'I'll be with you as soon as I'm finished with this person.' So I had to wait a little longer than desired, but not bad. 2) On my second day, the pannier bag fell off and got lost after I stopped for lunch, which required locking up the bike somewhere, so I took the bag into restaurant and re-attached it using the two velcro straps on the rear rack. I've used many panniers before, thought I did it correctly. But apparently I did not. So I paid $55 (cost) to replace everything in bag and bag. In hindsight, I wished I'd put a bungee around bag straps to really secure it to bike. PROBABLY MY FAULT. 3) Bring a second lock to lock quick-release front wheel, as decently strong but not super-heavy cable lock isn't long enough for both wheels and frame.I had a second cable lock.
But before I get started, let me share with you a few tips. OK, one tip: Get a work stand. Because putting your bike upside down isn’t good for it—yes, I said it. When I first started fixing my own bikes, I couldn’t afford a fancy $300, folding, magnetic, fixes-the-bike-for-you stand. I tried piecing together a “DIY $30 Stand.” I followed all the directions that the Internet demanded, and once I’d bought all the clamps and pipes, this thing cost really more in the neighborhood of $60—but it only stayed upright with a rope tied to something sturdy in the garage. It was one word: junk. So I bit the veritable chainring and charged a decent stand on my credit card (I hate debt, folks).
These guys are awesome. After work, I got to my bike to discover my back tire was completely flat. It had a slow leak, so I was able to pump it up enough to make it to their shop. I got there 10 minutes before closing and they were able to fit me in. They replaced my tube and picked all of the glass shards out of my tire. Awesome customer service and they saved me from having to do this myself in the dark and the cold.
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